Where Am I?

Psst....look over here!

Now What?

Are you sitting at your computer frantically clicking the 'refresh' button to see what pops up here next?  Well keep waiting!  Heh.  I'm working on a few things incorporating my perfect die cut shapes into a (hopefully) useful result.  I'm also hoping to get some drafts of patterns done to see if there's any potential in that or if I'm a doer and not a designer.  Oh and I have to get that darn Advent calendar done, only 337 days til Christmas!  (Oh and 322 til Advent calendar day!)

How Excited Am I?

Here, I'll tell ya: very excited! Why? you may ask...because I got a Sizzix Big Shot die cut machine for Christmas that's why! I did a lot of research for a way to cut perfect felt shapes and decided this baby was the way to do it. I have a Cricut Expression machine which I heart, but it's really only good for paper and like materials that resist the drag of the blade. Felt is too soft and would just bunch up. This week Michael's had die cut dies and accessories on sale for 40% off so I picked up two (the selection was lame!) and I got three more dies from eBay. Now I can cut perfect circles in six sizes, cut eight sizes and kinds of flowers and four sizes/shapes of leaves. Besides feeding my inner Perfection Monster, I'm hoping that this tool will be a time saver since hand sewing is inherently time consuming (again somewhat attributable to the aforementioned Monster). Stay tuned for some felt flower power!

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Christmas 2010 is officially in the history books, but I still have one more felt sharesy. I made 5 poinsettia hair clips and 4 poinsettia pins for a loverly felt fan friend. So simple but so much to sew! I used two basic 5-petal shapes layered and topped with 5 individual petals for the flower. I added a partial layer in green to the bottom for leaves and yellow glass beads for the center. Then I did a lot of sewing and ta da!







I have so much fun designing and creating stuff!

New Year, New Beginnings

OK, famous last words? Well I shall try my best to get my sew on and blog like the wind this year. As a start, here are pictures of all the nifty Christmas gifts I made for my family - and most weren't even made from felt.

First up, a set a linen dish towels for my mother-in-law. I got pretty fabric tape from an Etsy seller in China.


I really liked making this baker's apron for my Dad. It came together well for my first try at such a thing. Modeled by it's new owner and famous maker of "Daddy's Bread".


Here we have the water-proof lunch sacks I made for my sister. I didn't really have a pattern but they seem like they'll work :-)


I also made my sister a snugglie fleece Red Sox blanket (despite living in a Yankee fan zone).


Next up is a felt pin cushion for my Dad's wife. It's filled with crushed walnut shells so it sits nicely and sharpens the needles poked into it. I made the pins with some Swarovski crystals.


After trying my hand at pillow cases for Conkerr Cancer, I've begun making them for gifts now. This one is a super soft Hello Kitty model for my niece. Hello Kitty fabric is really difficult to find so I imported it from the Etsy seller in China.


And my favorite of all (if I were to pick just one) is this groovy Hello Kitty headband also for my niece. I needle felted in the eyes and nose and the rest is wool blend felt and thread. The bead on the bow is a pretty Swarovski crystal.


I really had a great time creating all these things so I'm looking forward to a busy creative 2011! Happy New Year!

O Tannenbaum!

Wednesday night I helped a friend host a craft night making felt advent calendars. The plan was to create a felt tree hanging with 25 pockets for the count-down to Christmas. The inspiration was mainly from this Pottery Barn calendar but a smaller simplified version - the PB version is 61 inches tall!

My handsome and talented husband took my rough draft tree pattern and made it accurate and usable PLUS he helped me hand cut about 60 sticky backed felt "2"s since the alternative would be buying another 15 packs of die-cut letters/numbers; that would be budget busting and plain ol' crazy (though trying to cut neatly shaped 2s was an exercise in crazy as well). Overall the project was a success, I'd say, despite the store only cutting us a 1 yard piece of felt when we'd asked for (and paid for) 1 1/2 yards (I wish there was a good alternative to JoAnn's around here!) And I'd also have to say it must have been inspiring too since I'm planning on 'stealing' the Pottery Barn calender idea and making a big ol' 61 inch tall version. Stay tuned for pictures!

Let's Do The Time Warp Again!

Yikes...where did four months go? I do mean well, really I do. I suppose it's my affliction...perfectionism. Yes, folks, I do spend too much time stuck in a weird I-know-I-can-but-what-if-I can't limbo. Kudos to those of you who do not suffer from this annoying tendency.

Anyhoo, I had a loverly evening at Starbuck's this week showing a friend how to hand sew a felt thingie. We called it a lesson, but really, she knows how to sew so I was just coaching. I also ordered a big stack of new felt from Prairie Point Junction's Wool Felt Central site that is scheduled to arrive today so I'm inspired. I'm probably over committing myself in my mind as I fantasize about all the fabulous Christmas gifts I will make people. Do you know the scene? The cookies are in the oven, the house is perfectly decorated, all those nagging projects are complete, the clutter is gone, tea by my side, sewing whilst my three year old quietly reads a book and snow gentle falls outside. Oddly, the most realistic notion there is the reading child; that kid loves books and stories! Well, I dare not put in writing here anything beyond some ideas, of which there are so many, but I will say I hope to tackle the whole Etsy thing in the new year.

And really, there are 58 days til Christmas so I can achieve perfection by then right?